Depth
of FieldStanley Kubrick, Film,
and the Uses of History
Edited by Geoffrey Cocks, James Diedrick, and Glenn Perusek
Wisconsin Film Studies Patrick McGilligan, Series Editor

A wide-open view of a cinematic enigma

Director of some of the most controversial
films of the twentieth century, Stanley Kubrick created a reputation
as a Hollywood outsider as well as a cinematic genius. His diverse
yet relatively small oeuvrehe directed only thirteen films
during a career that spanned more than four decadescovers
a broad range of the themes that shaped his century and continues
to shape the twenty-first: war and crime, gender relations and
class conflict, racism, and the fate of individual agency in
a world of increasing social surveillance and control.

In Depth of Field, leading screenwriters and scholars
analyze Kubrick's films from a variety of perspectives. They
examine such groundbreaking classics as Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey and later films whose critical
reputations are still in flux. Depth of Field ends with
three viewpoints on Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, placing it in the contexts of film history, the history and theory
of psychoanalysis, and the sociology of sex and power. Probing
Kubrick's whole body of work, Depth of Field is the first
truly multidisciplinary study of one of the most innovative and
controversial filmmakers of the twentieth century.

"While the essays underscore Kubrick's
paradoxical vision, they also point to his filmic perfectionism
along with his outraged yearning for a better order. The book
will appeal to Kubrick's avid aficionados, general cinephiles,
and all those involved in cultural debates."
Alain
J. J. Cohen, University of California, San Diego

Geoffrey Cocks is the Julian S. Rammelkamp Professor of History at Albion College.
He has written and edited many books, including The Wolf at
the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, and the Holocaust. James
Diedrick is associate dean at Agnes Scott College and author
of Understanding Martin Amis.Glenn Perusek is
the Royal G. Hall Professor of the Social Sciences at Albion
College and editor of Trade Union Politics: American Unions
and Economic Change.

Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.)